10 MORE Things I Do Differently as an Orthodox Christian PART II | Orthodox Christianity Explained

In this video I continue answering all the question people ask me about the Orthodox Church, its teaching, customs and traditions.
Part I “ Things I do differently as an Orthodox Christian”: • 10 Things I Do Differe...
#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristian #orthodox #orthodoxfaith #christianmom #christian #christianity #christians #momof3 #christianwomen #armenianchurch #orthodoxchristians #churches #churchlife

[@ethiodude9886]

bowing to God 41 times every day I go down on knee while praying. that's how we practice in Ethiopia Orthodox

[@holasona]

Amazing! I have a lot of admiration for Ethiopians and Ethiopian Orthodox Church!

[@coonpoon1]

I am evaluating Orthodoxy and you did a great job with the 2 lists you made. I found this very, very helpful. Answers some questions, yet provoked new ones.

[@holasona]

Thank you for your kind words! I am glad it was helpful!

[@CatherineDavid-xv4qd]

I am new to Orthodoxy and to say it's been interesting would be an understatement,lol! I would love a video of what you do in your home differently as an Orthodox Christian!

[@holasona]

Thank you for your kind words! Will do!

[@MrGp59]

So elegant it is to dress modestly and cover the hear in a beautiful way.

[@FerreiraFarm]

Yes please keep making videos about Orthodox Christianity. I would love to learn more.

[@holasona]

Thank you for your encouragement!

[@conniekoumjian8933]

very informative Sona! Thank you for your clear explanations. Yes a video about Orthodox home practices seems like a good idea.

[@holasona]

Thank you! I will get right into it!

[@zyaicob]

I recently learned that we seem to make the sign of the cross differently in each church. We Ethiopians use 2 fingers, the middle finger bent (which we do to make a cross with our fingers, and I've heard others say that the bent middle finger refers to how Christ condescended to our lowly state). Loving this introduction to our Armenian brothers and sisters❤

[@holasona]

Thank you for sharing! And thank you for watching!

[@coiasirathebard7774]

Yes I would also appreciate an at home video. We are recently converted and I would like to know more about Orthodox education for children.

[@holasona]

Thank you! I would be happy to share that in my next video!

[@Missmoon1993]

I’m very new to Orthodoxy! Thank you for sharing, would love a video on the home prayer life!

[@Music-Visually]

I would love this too 🙏

[@holasona]

Thank you for the feedback! I am working on that video.

[@miztenacioust1758]

Thank you, Sona! I was baptized into the Orthodox Church in June, and am so grateful. Glory to God!

[@miztenacioust1758]

And yes, I would love to see a video about the Orthodox home 🙏🏻 God bless you!

[@holasona]

Congratulations! Thank you for the feedback! God bless you too!

[@OvidiuBelciu]

This is important, is it Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox?

[@LizzyTwifehomemaker]

Thanks for the video! Yes, a video about what you do differently in your home would be interesting!

[@holasona]

Thank you for watching! Noted!

[@jaimie4011]

Yes would love to see the home and what you do!

[@holasona]

Thank you! Will do!

[@SashaLipskaia]

Thank you such a beautiful share❤

[@holasona]

@@SashaLipskaia Thank you for your kind words!

[@AzureSymbiote]

Thanks for another video. Now I finally understand that aspect about crossing oneself.

[@holasona]

Thank you! I am glad it was helpful!

[@valoranimo]

Thank you, it was such interesting to hear about Armenian Church in US. I'm Eastern Orthodox from Ukraine, and by the way, we have two main churches, wich celebrate Christmas in different days: UOC in 7th January and OCU in 25th December

[@holasona]

Thank you! I forgot to mention that! They are still not in Communion with each other, right?

[@valoranimo]

@@holasona officially not, unfortunately. But individual parishes doing according to their own conviction. It's more political, but mostly OCU is more liberal

[@zyaicob]

​@@valoranimois the OCU the one that's connected to the Russian government?

[@amberrufener4752]

Thank you for this video. Very interesting!

[@holasona]

Thank you for watching!

[@stanley1554]

Excellent video, thanks very much for fhe post 👏

[@holasona]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching!

[@muchnesss]

Fantastic videos! Please make more videos on the Orthodox Church!! ❤

[@holasona]

Thank you for your kind words! Will do! 🙏

[@ieshjust16]

This was a good video. I learned a lot. Thank you 💯☦️

[@holasona]

I appreciate it! Thank you for watching!

[@michaelbilodeau6470]

Please do make a video about the Orthodox home 😊

[@holasona]

Thank you for the feedback! Will do!

[@greenlemon2831]

Greetings from an Egyptian orthodox mother. I love your content ❤

[@holasona]

Greetings! Thank you for your kind words!

[@christychristy9789]

As a Greek Orthodox from Greece, I can say that the crucifix is not really common. I've never actually seen any Greek wearing a crucifix. I first saw this jewelry from Orthodox Syrian people. In Greece also we don't wear a veil at church. We celebrate Christmas together with the Catholics on December 25th whereas we kept the old tradition for Easter later than them.

[@slytlygufy]

That's a shame. No wonder so many Greeks are only cultural Orthodox.

[@holasona]

Thank you for your comment! Do you know when Greek women stopped wearing veil at church?

[@christychristy9789]

@@holasona from what I know this was never a thing as even in my grandmother's generation they didn't wear one. Maybe this was a very old tradition when women in general wore some kinds of veils in public globally.

[@BillMcHale]

Thank you for your video, I am a life long Catholic, though I pray ultimately for a reunion of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.... now, just a clarification of purgatory... Sins that have been confessed do not contribute to purgatory... in contrast, venial sins that have not been confessed and for which no penance was done are what gets a person in purgatory.... If you are not sure what a venial sin is... it is essentially a sin done without malice for God, think of a child lying because they would get in trouble with their parents for eat candy before dinner.. is it a sin to lie? Sure, but does the child bear the full responsibility? No. Also, I would point out that while we do believe that Mary was conceived immaculately, while we differ on the notion of the meaning of Original Sin... the idea is that Mary received Christ's Grace at conception so that she could be a suitable vessel as the theotokp s....

[@holasona]

Thank you for your response! All the sources that I read about Catholic faith point out that the sinner who committed a MORTAL sin, even if he has confessed it, still needs to go through Purgatory to be purified, to be ready for the Kingdom of God. Can you, please, name your sources?

[@judorican973]

God bless ☦️🙏🏿

[@holasona]

God bless you too!

[@hanng1242]

You are mistaken about the reason for why Nativity is celebrated on December 25. There is no record of this pagan "Sol Invictus" feast prior to Christianity. It is not that we moved the holiday to compete with the pagans, but rather that the pagans invented a new feast to compete with the Christians. Note also that the winter solstice in not on the 25 - it usually on the 21st or 22nd. People today, either because of an anti-Christian agenda, or simply because Greco-Roman paganism is long dead like to attribute all sorts of Christian things to the pagans. However, in the 4th Century, Greco-Roman paganism was a living religion competing with Christianity (and losing) for the hearts and minds of the people of the oikumene. It was not a static religion/philosophy at the time, and its adherents were not just content to fade away quietly. There was even an Emperor who tried to re-institute paganism as the state religion (Julian the Apostate - r. 361-63). People assume that the feast of Sol Invictus had always existed in Greco-Roman paganism, and because paganism pre-dates Christianity, they conclude that Sol Invictus also pre-dates Christianity then jump to the conclusion that the Church set the date of Christmas because of this pagan feast. It doesn't occur to them that there was a period of time when paganism and Christianity co-existed (in the sense of both existing, not necessarily getting along), and there is no reason to believe that former was not also influenced by the latter. The reason why Nativity is on the 25th is because Annunciation is on March 25th. It is possible to calculate the date of the Resurrection because we know that Jewish Passover is on 14 Nissan, and this led the Church to conclude that in the year Christ was crucified, 14 Nissan began on a Thursday evening (because we know that the Last Supper took place on a Thursday evening). The Church was therefore able to calculate that the Friday on which Christ was crucified was March 25. There is a pious Jewish belief that prophets enter and leave the world on the same day; applying this to Christ, if Good Friday was March 25, then the Anunciation was also on March 25. December 25 is nine months after March 25, so that was the date set for the feast of the Nativity. One holiday that might have been set on a day of a previously existing pagan feast would be Halloween. Certainly, contemporary Halloween traditions owe much of their flavor to the Celtic pagan feast of Samhain. However, there could be as more pedestrian reason for this. Originally, the Feast of All Saints was celebrated in the West on the Sunday after Pentecost, as it still is in the East, so why was it moved? It is possible it was moved to encourage people from the countryside to go to Church since they would be in the cities to sell the fruits of the harvest - the harvest having occurred sometime in September or October. It is safe to assume that the countryside held on to paganism longer than the cities because the word "pagan" itself comes from the Latin word "paganus," meaning "rural" or "rustic." If all these people from the countryside were going to be in town anyway, why not use the opportunity to evangelize by celebrating an important, non-geographically specific (individual saints die somewhere in particular and the Pope would have wanted a feast that was relevant to people regardless of where they were from) feast in impressive fashion. Obviously, the dates of the feasts having to do with Christ's life, and that of feasts derived from those feasts couldn't be moved, but All Saints could. Note also that the feast itself is the Feast of All Saints on November 1. The word Halloween reflects its connection to this feast - All Hallows (i.e. saints - sacred - hallowed, like "hallowed ground") Even (evening - the day before). The Latins then made a special important feast for the souls of the faithful departed, All Souls Day, and reasonably connected it to All Saints Day by placing it the day after (in the east, special feasts for the dead are spread out to several Saturdays during the Triodion and Pentecostarion periods). It is therefore also possible that Halloween's occurrence with Samhain is a lucky accident. As for celebrating Christmas and Easter on different dates than the West, there is a reason for this as well. Note first, that on the Julian Calendar, Nativity is also celebrated on December 25, but is 13 days after Western Christmas because the Julian and Gregorian calendars are not in synch with each other. By the 14th Century, scholars in Constantinople had realized that the date prescribed as the vernal equinox, June 21, was falling behind the astronomical equinox. There was an effort to reform the calendar to get these back into alignment, but the guy who was tasked with doing this, Nikephoros Gregoras, ended up on the wrong side of the Hesychast controversy, so his work was not adopted. A couple centuries later, when the Pope Gregory XIII of Rome wanted to reform the calendar for the same reasons scholars in the West came up with a solution, and thus we have the Gregorian Calendar. The problem is largely due to leap years. The earth completes its orbit around the sun in 365.24291 days. This is roughly 365.25 days, so the Julian Calendar has a leap year every four years. Because this is not exact, however, by the late 16th Century, this had resulted in a drift of 10 days. The Gregorian Calendar has a leap year every year in which the year date with the number 4 as a factor, but not if 100 is also a factor, but if 400 is a factor, it remains a leap year. The new calendar was put into effect (in Catholic countries, anyway) in 1582, in which October 4 was followed by October 15 that year, thereby eliminating the drift and allowing the new calculation to keep the date of September 21 in line with the astronomical equinox. In 1600, 1700, and 1900, therefore, it was a leap year on the Julian Calendar but not on the Gregorian Calendar, leading to 13-day difference in the 20th Century. However, the year 2000 is divisible by 400, so it was a leap year on both, meaning that the difference will remain 13 days for the rest of this century. All of this matters because the Vernal Equinox is important for calculating the date of Easter. The formula set forth at the Council of Nicea is that Pascha will be celebrated on the first Sunday, after the first full moon, on or after the Vernal Equinox, defined as March 21. The Council also prescribes that we are not to celebrate Pascha "with the Jews." It seems in the West, they took this to mean that 14 Nissan is irrelevant to the calculation; in the East, it means that Pascha may not be on 14 Nissan, and if it is, Pascha is bumped back a week. Both the East and the West use this formula, but because they are working from different days dated as "March 21," the dates can coincide, be off by a week, or be off by around a month. If the first full moon (also determined by formula, not by actual astronomical observation) falls after both Gregorian and Julian March 21, East and West will celebrate Pascha on the same day, unless this day falls before 14 Nissan on the Jewish Calendar, in which case they will be off by a week. However, if the first full moon occurs is the (currently) 13-day period between Gregorian March 21 and Julian March 21, then that full moon is not actually on or after March 21 on the latter, meaning that the first full moon will be the next one, roughly a month later, and so the celebrations of Western Easter and Orthodox Pascha will be off by about a month.

[@holasona]

Thank you for such a detailed commentary! There were many interesting points here! All the Orthodox sources I read insist on January 6 being moved to December 25 because of the pagan feast that needed to be overridden. However, they also state that in the fourth century paganism and Christianity coexisted in Roman Empire, Christians were merely trying to win more people and erase as many pagan feasts from their memory as they could. In Armenia this tactic was not relevant, because king Tridates III had already proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301. So, paganism was more or less dead in Armenia at that time. Of course, there were still individuals practicing it, but the majority of the population was Christian. As for the Annunciation, many Orthodox Churches - Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Coptic, Armenian celebrate it on April 7. Besides, I truly believe that people back then knew very well that full term pregnancy is almost 10 months, not 9. So it is impossible to accurately calculate the exact day of the Annunciation and the day of the Birth of Christ.

[@gollum8615]

Great read, thanks for posting

[@hanng1242]

@@holasona "As for the Annunciation, many Orthodox Churches - Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Coptic, Armenian celebrate it on April 7." I don't know about the Copts, but the date prescribed for the feast of the Annunciation in the Orthodox Church is March 25. However, until the end of the century, Julian March 25 occurs on Gregorian April 7. The Churches that are on the Old Calendar therefore still celebrate it on Julian March 25, but to one using the Gregorian calendar, it would happen 13 days "late." As for the 40-week human gestation period, it is my belief that the traditional term of 9 months is a matter of epistemology. The occurrence of successful conception can be known (without technological aid) when the woman misses the next period of menstruation. It's not as though the ancient Romans could go down to the drug store a buy a 5-minute pregnancy test the morning after or something like that. Depending on how much a husband and wife like each other, the date of conception could be traced back to a particular day or there might be too many possibilities to be sure. Thus, we have estimated the gestation period of 9 months because, while biologically it occurred earlier, we can know for sure that it happened about nine months prior to the due date. Therefore, the Church places feasts of conception (of Christ, the Theotokos and John the Forerunner) onto the calendar 9 months prior to the feast of the birth.

[@Geralt400]

Just to further preface what she already said, Armenian Orthodox Church is not the EO (Eastern Orthodox). Historically the EO considers the Oriental very heretical. This is very important as many people are interested in the EO especially in America and do not know the difference. Personal opinion after reading about the military campaigns the EO approved of against the Oriental has made me extremely sympathetic to the Christians of the OO. Beautiful people That have been discriminated against especially by other Christians.

[@zyaicob]

We call Chalcedon "the Ominous" because it was the first time those calling themselves Christians persecuted those who call themselves Christians

[@eikawithac]

Thank you for these videos! I really appreciate your explanations of some of the unique Orthodox practices, and I also as a Latin Catholic appreciate your update about the Immaculate Conception at the end. I in no way want to try to convince you of our belief, but I would like to clarify that we believe the Holy Mother was preserved from sin through the death and resurrection of her Son; His saving work reverberates throughout time and eternity which is how we believe she could be preserved by His work even before the Passion occurred. It's as though she was washed in the waters of baptism from the moment she began to exist; we see this as making her more, not less, human, because a full and whole humanity is holy and obedient to God. Certainly the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception would not make sense without a theology of original sin. I've never thought about the significance of the locations we touch as we say the name of each Person of the Trinity - the Sign of the Cross is so beautiful and it's so important not to take it for granted but to notice every bit of meaning and symbolism.

[@holasona]

Thank you for your feedback! I will do some more research on the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Is there a book or article you recommend?

[@gotogd1233]

As a traditional Roman Catholic I really enjoy listening to your synopsis of your acts of Faith and reasoning. Thank you soo much! Iv always wondered about the ways you celebrate and venerate the Sacraments. And I was under the impression that Orthodox did not go to Confession on a regular basis and thought it was a rarity! Relieved to hear that it is not. Maybe I thought this because you dont have Confessionals... lol idk. The 2 most popular differences that I was aware of were 1. the Filoque 2. Purgatory - just as you made obvious. While I completely understand that you have firm belief in your teachings, I beg to ask : 1. As to how you come to believe that the Holy Spirit does not come from BOTH the Father and Son? It just does not make any logical sense to me as to how such a strong Faithful could conclude that the Holy Spirit does come from the Son as well? Most obviously because we know without any possible doubt that our Lord is the MOST HIGH and sits at the Right Hand of the The Father therefore there is no possible way for the Holy Spirit to proceed only from The Father if they are enthroned together.. It just does not make any sense to me whatsoever how this could be an argument or cause of debate. Because we both know without doubt that The Father is in The Son and the The Son is the exact same representation as the Father. Moreover, the Son only does the Will of the Father... therefore there is no way in my perspective that the Holy Spirit only resides/comes forth from the Father - AND it is because they are ONE. It would be as though The Father is keeping secrets from Iesu to logically conclude that the Holy Spirit only proceeds from ABBA. Does this reside with you in any manner? 2. Purgatory for Catholics in general, not just Roman Rite, is same as the Tolls as taught by Orthodox in my perspective. I see no differences. Otherwise, there would be no need to pray for the Dead because their Souls would be maturely developed and they would be able to ascend after Death. So while I understood your take on things, your use of different definitions/terms to explain them, they are still the same. And while I won't beg to differ on teachings of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother, I just need to emphasise that, NO, as Roman Catholics, we do not believe Mother Mary is/was 'Immaculate' in flesh as you mentioned. We believe The Lord formed her soul to perfection so that HE could reside within her during conception/conceivement. Also, so that she could spiritually acknowledge HIS divinity and be able to relate to HIS mission/teachings/practices etc. We do not believe she could have ascended without HIM and/or HIS sacrifice either... To conclude, we heartily believe in Angel Gabriel, being that she was truly "Blessed" among women because her Soul was Immaculately created... specifically for Iesu!

[@gotogd1233]

OH! I also wanted to make you aware that many traditional Roman Rite Catholics bless themselves with 3 fingers... and for the same reasoning you mentioned. I also feel the necessity to hi-five you and all of our Orthodox faithful, Coptic alike, for being able to Fast so devoutly🏆... And as a firm believer in the One True Faith, I thank you graciously😘.. "Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa" - {Iv never had good self discipline and I tend to give in to my belly, ugh}

[@spongin524]

What advice do you have for people who cannot attend orthodox (what is it called?) services?

[@holasona]

Thank you for your comment! I am sorry there are no Orthodox churches near you! I would recommend reading Orthodox Literature, the creations of the Holy Fathers that interpreted the Holy Scripture. Listen to the video and audio records of the Divine Liturgy. There are also books of prayers written by Orthodox Saints. How far is the nearest Orthodox Church from you? I know, it must be very difficult not to have one close by, but do you think you could travel a few times a year to other cities to take part in the Divine Liturgy?

[@kirkdickson8878]

I am looking into different forms of Christianity and appreciate this informative video. However, you may not be right about Dec.25th being chosen to replace a pagan holiday. It is exactly 9 months after the annunciation, which was celebrated by the ancient church. Ancient Faith ministries has a good blog post that addresses this and other arguments sometimes used to label Christmas pagan.

[@holasona]

Thank you! Some Orthodox churches celebrate Annunciation on March 25, others on April 7. Also, christians back then knew very well that a full term pregnancy is almost 10 months, not 9. So it is very debatable whether December 25 is more realistic than January 6.

[@kirkdickson8878]

@@holasona I didn’t realize some churches celebrate Annunciation on different dates when I commented. That would make a difference. I am not trying to argue that Dec. 25 is better than Jan 6 as a date for Christmas! I just don’t think that a pagan holiday was the reason Dec. 25th came to be celebrated in the west. Our months are 4.3 weeks long on average. Full term pregnancy is 38 weeks from conception on average, which divided by 9 is 4.2.

[@dukebanerjee4710]

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine just recently switched to the Gregorian Calendar. The Ukrainian church was granted autocephaly in 2018, which has lead to schism between Moscow and Constantinople.

[@holasona]

Thank you! Good to know!

[@joea.9969]

I am a Catholic who is dejected and considering orthodox. What can you tell me?

[@holasona]

I would recommend finding an Orthodox priest who you can talk to about Orthodox faith. If you chose to go to Armenian Church, I can recommend a priest to you. I was lucky to be born and be brought up in countries where the majority of the population is Orthodox, but even if that was not the case, I think I would find my way to Orthodoxy.

[@joea.9969]

@@holasona there are two Orthodox churches nearby one is Greek one just says Orthodox.i have some hang ups and questions but Im open to learning. Im really disappointed with the modern church and the popes etc. Thanks for the comment.

[@oOIYvYIOo]

Did you had the blessing of your Father to speak on youtube about Orthodoxy?

[@agiasf7330]

Which Orthodox Church do you attend?

[@holasona]

I attend Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church.

[@DFMoray]

Girl, get yourself a good mic. Put down some carpet for those reflections.

[@holasona]

Thank you for the feedback! Right now, I am making things work with waterer equipment I have at home.

[@andys3035]

Sound is great to me! I see no issues with any reflections, at least not enough to complain about it.

[@OvidiuBelciu]

Why are you not saying that you belong to the Armenian Orthodox church which Belongs to the Oriental Orthodox church (non-Chalcedonic) and is different from Eastern Orthodox Church. Because obviously you are confessing a different style of Holy Trinity whcih the Other churches sees that a bit heretical.

[@holasona]

I did state and explain that I belong to Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in the beginning of the first video: “Things I do differently as an Orthodox Christian”. I also say in the beginning of this video that these 10 things are common to both Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches. We do not confess “a different style of Holy Trinity”. Beliefs of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches coincide on the matter of Holy Trinity.

[@user-lp1lf4pz8m]

Armenian or Syrian are not otorhodox!!!!!! Where did you learn about Orthodoxy???????

[@holasona]

Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian churches are Oriental Orthodox Churches, as I mentioned in my previous video. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches are not in communion with each other, unfortunately. There is common misconception in the Eastern Orthodox Church that Oriental churches are monophysites. Monophysitism is considered a heresy in all Oriental churches. We are MIAphysits who believe that Divinity and Humanity in Jesus are united in one physis, united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration. We believe that Christ is fully divine and fully human, in one nature.